? For Exp players.. How long b4 u felt u "had it"

[dannyboy 123]

I been playin on and off 8 years, but not nearly what you would call a regular player. The thing that discourages me the most is that if I'm jammin for hours, I just get that feeling and my fingers effortlessly know where to go.

 

But each day it's like I have to start all over again. So my question is, when you were at the stage I'm at, about how long before that feeling became second nature. Where you could pick up a guitar and instantly feel it.

 

I just wonder if it's possible some poeple will never feel it, and they'll be okay players but will always need to jam for a few hours before really havin it.

[Knottyhed]

I dunno about having to jam for a few hours, but I play *much* better after 45mins - 1 hour of playing. I think basically your fingers have to warm up and I'd assume it's normal. A bit like sport - you'll perform better if you warm up first.

The only way to have it constantly at your finger tips would be to constantly practice/play on and off throughout the day - but for those of us with day jobs that's not really practical

[Little Dreamer]

It's not so much about how many years you've been playing. It's about when did you make the realization that it's all about the music and expressing yourself, and technique is just the icing on the cake (not the other way around). Once that happens, it's only about six months or so before you start to get pretty happy with your playing.

[Knottyhed]

Originally posted by Little Dreamer It's about when did you make the realization that it's all about the music and expressing yourself, and technique is just the icing on the cake (not the other way around).

 

 

How can you fully express yourself without good technique or if your chops aren't firing on all cylinders? Personally, i don't ever want to get entirely happy with my playing, cos that'll be when i stop trying to improve it.

 

I've over the years i've had numerous musical ideas and not had the chops to pull it off consistently... i've had to practice my own stuff for hours before trying to lay it down for a recording.

 

I do agree that technique should not be the focus of your playing though.

[guitarjohn]

The problem isn't so much the communication between your hands and the instrument, but more between your head and your hands. What you tend to find yourself doing if you hammer yourself for hours on end is that you're usually just going over the same old ground. The essential thing to do is instead of trying to reach perfection on a particular technique or scale/arpeggio, ensure that you do something new every time you practice. This is more important than anything else on the instrument, since the more you force yourself to pick up a new piece or execise, the more your brain is having to communicate new things to your hands, instead of your subconcious being allowed to handle the regurgitation of old stuff while your brain sleeps. The more accustomed your brain gets to picking up new pieces, the easier it is going to be for it to communicate to your hands when you think of something new for yourself, and that's the point we're heading for, that's when your own expression starts to happen and don't worry, when your brain thinks of something and the lines of communication are open to your hands, you'll fly in seconds.

[Little Dreamer]

How can you fully express yourself without good technique or if your chops aren't firing on all cylinders?

 

 

I wasn't talking about "fully" expressing yourself, I was talking about expressing yourself in the first place. The guy said he's been playing for 8 years, yet he's worried about "never feeling it". I assume his technique is fairly good, but when someone says they don't "have it", I assume they're talking about that emotional satisfaction that comes from using that technique to express yourself.

 

Who knows, I'm probably wrong.

 

I certainly didn't mean that anyone should be happy with bad technique.

[Knottyhed]

Originally posted by Little Dreamer I wasn't talking about "fully" expressing yourself, I was talking about expressing yourself in the first place. The guy said he's been playing for 8 years, yet he's worried about "never feeling it". I assume his technique is fairly good, but when someone says they don't "have it", I assume they're talking about that emotional satisfaction that comes from using that technique to express yourself. Who knows, I'm probably wrong. I certainly didn't mean that anyone should be happy with bad technique.

Fair enough, i mis-understood your point. Although I think you're mis-understanding the posters point . Looks to me like he was saying that he never has "it" at his finger tips when he first picks up the guitar but after playing for a while, he plays at the best of his ability - only to pick it up the next day and not be as good as he was when he left off the day before.

I get this myself; I think everyone does, it's just a matter of warming up probably mentally as well as physically.

[GorillaLover]

a big one for me is warm up my inside picking

once I've done that, I feel much more ready and I execute things without having to think as much

[nylon rock]

You know when you "have it" when you can finally pick up a guitar, and you feel completely comfortable with anything you do. It can be extremely simple stuff, but if you like it a lot, then you've "got it."

I have had bouts of this as early as my first year, and as late as just the other day. My best playing comes from initiating on a "sweet" note relative to a "nice" chord. Typically, if it sounds good to me, others like it too.

Practicing everyday slowly makes the guitar become a chromatic instrument, too. All notes work if applied "right." Having an open mind toward dissonance and sweetness makes it a lot easier. It is wonderful to abstractly make your guitar sound, melodically, as {censored}ed up as it can get, and then turn it around, taking a long journey within a few minutes, into a very sweet sounding, unconfused, and focused work of musical art.

[dannyboy 123]

Originally posted by Knottyhed Fair enough, i mis-understood your point. Although I think you're mis-understanding the posters point . Looks to me like he was saying that he never has "it" at his finger tips when he first picks up the guitar but after playing for a while, he plays at the best of his ability - only to pick it up the next day and not be as good as he was when he left off the day before. I get this myself; I think everyone does, it's just a matter of warming up probably mentally as well as physically.

Yeah that's kinda what I meant. But I think what guitarjohn said makes sense too.

After playin a few hours, if I get an idea in my head, it automatically goes to my hands. So I'm thinking of the idea, not of where do I put this finger, where's this note, etc.

But that only happens after a few hours. Ok maybe not always hours, sometimes 30 min.. I was just throwin out a number.

But the next day, my hands just seem to lose their memory. So I have to warm up with some scales, but I'm thinking too much of the scale, and keep hittin wrong notes, and even how I strike the strings just don't sound good. Eh.. it's okay, I'll get it one of these days

[dannyboy 123]

Originally posted by Knottyhed Fair enough, i mis-understood your point. Although I think you're mis-understanding the posters point . Looks to me like he was saying that he never has "it" at his finger tips when he first picks up the guitar but after playing for a while, he plays at the best of his ability - only to pick it up the next day and not be as good as he was when he left off the day before. I get this myself; I think everyone does, it's just a matter of warming up probably mentally as well as physically.

[guitarviz]

Originally posted by guitarjohn the more you force yourself to pick up a new piece or execise, the more your brain is having to communicate new things to your hands, instead of your subconcious being allowed to handle the regurgitation of old stuff while your brain sleeps.

 

 

This is excellent advice, well put.

 

(nice first post GuitarJohn! entering the world of Harmony-Ctrl forums with a splash, are you )

[Little Dreamer]

Originally posted by Knottyhed Fair enough, i mis-understood your point. Although I think you're mis-understanding the posters point . Looks to me like he was saying that he never has "it" at his finger tips when he first picks up the guitar but after playing for a while, he plays at the best of his ability - only to pick it up the next day and not be as good as he was when he left off the day before. I get this myself; I think everyone does, it's just a matter of warming up probably mentally as well as physically.

Yeah, I hear ya. I'm just saying that in my experience, I realized that if I couldn't hit the right notes during a slow, simple improv when I was cold, I couldn't hit them in a frenzied wank-fest when I was warmed up. The only thing that changed was that the increased dexterity of being warmed up allowed me to instantly get off the bad note and get on a good one. But that was still a far cry from being able to hit the right note in the first place, much less play a series of right notes with authority - and that's sort of what I tend to think of as the difference between "having it" and not, because it's the first step in hearing what you want to play and then being able to play it.

Anyhow, I've prattled on long enough now.